Afternoon in Richmond...

Three years ago Michael went to the doctor for a sore throat that had been bothering him for as long as he could remember.  He had just assumed that it was sinus drainage and he finally decided that it was time to figure out what he needed to do to correct the problem.  His family doctor referred him to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor.  Michael says as soon as Dr. Armstrong, the ENT doctor, put the scope down his throat and he saw the lump that was on the back of his tongue on the video screen, he knew it was more than just sinus trouble.  Dr. Armstrong wanted to remove the tumor immediately, and although he told Michael it would be sent off for testing, he really didn't think it was going to be anything to worry about.  Not long after, Michael went in for surgery and had the tumor removed.  Several days later the test results came in and it actually turned out to be cancer.  Michael ended up having a second surgery, in order to remove a wider margin around where the tumor had been, to ensure that Dr. Armstrong had removed all of the cancerous tissue.  This was also sent off for testing and thankfully all results came back cancer free. 

The first year after surgery Michael had to go back to the ENT for monthly check ups to keep an eye on the surgical site and make sure everything was healing well.  The second year he had to go for check ups every other month and this year he has been going every 3 months. Right before Kellan was born he had his tonsils removed due to lots of infections and sore throats that he continued to have.  All of that tissue was also sent off for testing and also came back cancer free.  The rest of this year he will have check ups every 3 months but next year he can start going every 6 months.   We have been very blessed that his surgeries and cancer scare didn't turn out to be any more serious than they were and are so thankful that God was and continues to watch over our family.

Since his ENT is in Richmond, whenever he has a doctor's appointment we spend the rest of the day shopping and going out to dinner before we head home.  Yesterday afternoon Michael had a check up so Kellan and I came along to make a day out of it.  After another good report at the doctor's office we knew we were going to make a Whole Foods trip (of course) and eat dinner somewhere (did you have any doubt?) but the rest of the time was unplanned.

Waiting on daddy at the doctor...mommy had to save me from a little boy that kept wanting to rub my hair...

First we had a quick lunch at O'Charley's.  Is there anything better than unlimited baked potato soup, salad, and yeast rolls?  Nope, we don't think so either.

They won't let me eat their food so I just have to take matters into my own hands...

Next we headed to Target to get our little growing weed a new car seat since his feet are starting to hang over the edge of his infant carrier. We decided to go with the Graco My Ride 65.  With this seat he can still ride rear-facing until 40 pounds and then we can turn it around so he can face forward until he's 65 pounds.  I want to keep him rear-facing for as long as possible and hopefully get the most use out of this car seat before we have to buy yet another one!

After Target we had mentioned going to the Virginia Holocaust Museum but when we looked it up online it was closing at 5 and we didn't think we would have enough time to get all the way through it.  We decided to save it for another day and instead we drove around downtown and eventually ended up back at Carytown.  Of course we had to make a little trip to Carytown Cupcakes at their new location right on Cary Street.

We each picked out two cupcakes to take with us.  Michael got a strawberry and Georgia Peach.  I got a strawberry and a Peanut Butter Oreo.

Kellan trying out the chairs outside of Carytown Cupcakes.

We stopped in Frapple, a new yogurt shop in Carytown.  We didn't get any yogurt, we just wanted to see how it was different from Sweet Frogs which is another yogurt shop right beside it!  They look the same as far as we can see.  They both have different flavored yogurts to choose from with lots of toppings.   We'll have to go back and try it out sometime.

Kellan and I at Frapple

These painted dogs were all over Richmond.  This one was in front of Weezie's Kitchen in Carytown.  I recently bought a Groupon deal for dinner there...I can't wait to try it!

After Carytown we decided to drive around and look at some of the historic neighborhoods near downtown.  There were two historical houses, Agecroft and the Wilton House Museum, that you can tour, right in the middle of a neighborhood.  We will have to go back because I definitely want to see the inside of these houses.  I originally wanted to teach high school history before I switched to elementary education and I was a history major in college so Richmond is the perfect city for me...there are historical sites everywhere.  We have already been to Maymont Park and toured the house there, the Museum of the Confederacy, and walked around Brown's Island but there are so many other places to see.  Michael also drove me around the campus of the University of Richmond since I had never seen it.  We also drove by the very popular and well known "Aunt Pam's House" but it didn't look like anyone was home. :)  Here are a few things I still want to do in Richmond one day soon.

1.  Virginia Holocaust Museum
2.  Wilton House Museum
3.  Agecroft Hall
4.  Museum of Edgar Alan Poe
5.  Science Museum
6.  Art Museum
7.  Walk around the Capital Grounds and 6th Street Market
8.  The Civil War Museum
9.  Children's Museum (when Kellan gets a little older)

I am sure I will add more things but this is a good start.  We go to Richmond all the time but its usually just to eat and shop!  We need to start making better use of our time. 

Next we went to Ellwood Thompson's Local Market to see what their organic produce selection was like.  I was very impressed!  They actually have a bigger organic selection than Whole Foods.  We got quite a few new vegetables and fruits for Kellan to try. 

Dog outside of Ellwood Thompson's Market...Kellan clutching his Easter Bunny :)

Next stop was Whole Foods to get the things that Ellwood's didn't have.  Look what we found there...



After finishing up at Whole Foods we headed to P.F. Changs for dinner.  I won't bore you with our meal because we got the same thing we got the last time we were there...so yummy!  If you are interested you can check out that post here.  After dinner we headed home with our Great Wall of Chocolate to go because we were actually too full to even take a bite!  I admit I had a couple of bites before I went to bed :)

Daddy and Kellan waiting on our table...he just couldn't hold his eyes open any longer

Our little doodle turned 8 months today so hopefully I can get his monthly pictures up here tomorrow!